Renewing Aristotelian theory: The cold fusion controversy as a test case

Abstract

As practical criticism, this account exhibits the strength and flexibility of science as a rhetorical enterprise. The rhetorical analysis of coldfusion reveals science under considerable stress: the mass media assault science's most cherished social arrangements, while a new experimental result threatens its deepest theories. Yet its rhetorical resources prove more than equal to this challenge. This analysis also contributes to rhetorical theory. It assumes the continuing viability of classical rhetoric as an explanation for the persuasiveness of texts, including the texts of science; at the same time, it acknowledges the need to re‐examine and to clarify the central concepts of classical rhetoric in the light of the current state of relevant knowledge—in this case, a more sophisticated understanding of audience, of discourse community, and of consensus.